


fresh air

by loonyloopy



Category: Dragon Age, Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-25
Updated: 2015-10-25
Packaged: 2018-04-28 03:34:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5076244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loonyloopy/pseuds/loonyloopy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Varric and Cullen enjoy some friendly quiet time</p>
            </blockquote>





	fresh air

It was a rare sight. Varric had to look twice to even believe it. The Commander out of his uniform and not crammed into his dusty office. Instead he stood in the Skyhold gardens and was indeed enjoying the warmth of this day in a loose cotton shirt and some well worn trousers. Without the fur and metal he didn’t look that impressive and frightening anymore and Varric remembered the first days of their journey from Kirkwall to Haven. How hollow his eyes seemed and how pale his skin. Cullen did lose the frail and ill appearance somewhere in between, still seemed far off from being a happy Fereldan dog lord with rosy cheeks and some wench at his side though.

“Enjoying some fresh air, Curly? Didn’t know you had it in you.”

Cullen looked startled, expression quickly changing as he saw Varric and he smiled.

“Varric, I … yes. The weather demanded a break and I obeyed.”

The dwarf sat down on a bench near Cullen. The gardens always smelled of herbs and flowers and f Mother Giselle wasn’t around, it actually was quite the serene place. The Inquisitor spend hours in the secluded space, if a mission was overly exhausting.

“You know, I may have lost a bet now. Josephine will be gloating, if I tell her about finding you out here in the sun. We already speculated that you might be a dark creature that turns into dust as soon as he faces a cloudless sky.”

Cullen laughed and sat down besides Varric, legs stretched and his whole posture relaxed. Varric doubted that he would ever lose that faint trace of melancholy surrounding him. At least it made a good trait for a dramatic hero. His readers loved a main character with sad puppy eyes and a tragic past.

“Did you now?”

“Of course, you’ve to believe me. I’d never lie to anyone.”

“Hmmm… are they any other bets that I’m not aware of?”

“No.”

“Are you lying to me, Varric?”

“No, Curly.”

The following silence was easy enough, both men entertaining their own thoughts until a young chantry sister entered the garden. She was waifish and a bit lost and turned red as soon as she saw the Commander. Her greetings were nothing more than a staccato of words and then she was gone again. What an odd little person and people called dwarves crazy. Varric coughed slightly.

“Quite the ladies man, eh?”

“No.”

Cullen rubbed his neck and sighed. He clearly wasn’t comfortable with getting that kind of attention. It was a bit strange considering that he lead the armies and interacted with soldiers on a daily basis, but as soon as something wasn’t strictly professional, he was out of his comfort zone in a matter of seconds. Varric patted his shoulder.

“Yeah, you just have that effect on half of the population in Skyhold.”

“Please don’t call me pretty now. Leliana won’t stop since we’ve been to Halamshiral.”

It was Varric’s time to laugh and he slightly shook his head. He remembered how Cullen was crowded with Orlesians for the whole evening and how lost he seemed and how quickly he developed the mother of all headaches. The Inquisitor surely knew no mercy. Varric watched Cullen’s hands then, tried to see, if they’re sill shaking like in the first weeks after quitting the blue stuff. His fingers were perfectly still.

“On a more serious note, Curly. How are you these days?”

Cullen got up, stretched his limbs and looked at some flowers that were fully in bloom. Varric got the impression that the blond was thinking pretty hard about the right answer for a simple question.

“Good.”

“Good?”

“Better.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear. You’re up for a round of ale later?”

“Only if Bull doesn’t make me drink that swill of his again.”

Pretty sure that Bull wouldn’t call his special drink swill, but Varric understood why no one wanted to drink it a second time. Since arriving with the Inquisition the number of incidents including piss drunk agents had doubled. He put a hand over his heart

“I will to see that.”

“I need to finish some reports beforehand thoug”

With him there was always work, reports, letters, training with the recruits and Cullen was already headed out, when he turned around for a last time.

“And Varric? Thank you.”

“Don’t sweat it, Curly.”


End file.
